Mar 08

AS part of our effort to keep all our current and prospective customers up-to-date, we bring you good news

Any Gaia 11 kW Wind Turbine installed after 1 sl April 2010 will be eligible for 4 ROC’s, which represents a doubling of the current tariff. With ROC’s currently trading at £46/MW, this increased tariff represents 18.4p/kWh, in addition to the savings by using the electric on-site, and exporting any surplus to NIE.

While this represents a good move forward, Northern Ireland is still a little behind the mainland UK, which is adopting a completely new and simplified payment structure called Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), which pays 26.7p for any turbine under 15kW.

The DETI has indicated that the new ROC’s tariff is an interim measure, and the ultimate aim is to align Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK. Any turbine installed after 1S1 April 2010, will automatically be grandfathered, and eligible for the FIT’s payment scheme when it is eventually introduced, so it appears you can have full confidence that you investment will be future proofed.

Mar 04

What happens if you get a poor rating? There is no legal penalty for getting a bad label for an existing house. From the perspective of a seller or landlord, the effect of such a label can be expected to be a degree of market disadvan­tage in a competitive property market. From the perspective of a householder, it creates an aware­ness of the ongoing running costs, comfort level and environmental impact associated with en­ergy use in the property.

There are a number of simple measures that should achieve a good energy rating. Any combination of a number of the measures out lined below should achieve a high B rating. However, to achieve an A BER, almost all of these must be incorporated into the design.

  • Increase insulation in the walls/attic/ floors
  • Install an airtight membrane covering the complete fabric of the house
  • Install advanced energy efficient win­dows/doors with triple glazing.
  • Include measures to achieve controlled, healthy ventilation (Heat Recovery Ven­tilation)
  • Install highly efficient condensing boilers (Under the Building Regulations, from 31 March 2008 all oil and gas fired boilers installed as replacements in existing dwellings must meet a minimum seasonal efficiency of 86 percent, where practica­ble. These boilers are frequently referred to as condensing boilers because of their operation)
  • Insulate the hot water cylinder and all pipe work
  • Install modern heating controls (zoned thermostat controls)
  • Install certain types of renewable energy heating systems (Solar, biomass, geothermal)
  • Specify 100 percent CFL bulbs in your design. When there is 100 per cent CFL bulbs specified, there should be a IO kWh/m2/yr change in figures when cal­culating the BER. This could potentially improve your rating. These bulbs cost from €5-€8 each and can also save you up to €250 per year on electricity.
  • Maximize passive solar design. Passive solar orientated houses are designed to let heat into the building during the winter months and block out the sun during hot summer days. This can be achieved using deciduous trees or bushes to the south of the buildings.
Mar 03

Paul Mcalister Architects will be exhibiting at this years Eco Show Live in Belfast with a showcase of our work.

http://www.ecoshow.ie/

Eco Show Live, Belfast

Eco Show Live, Belfast

Feb 25

Sustainable design in terms of energy provision has become part of mainstream Irish building in the past few years. This has come about because of self-builders’ desires to keep future energy requirements to a minimum, and as a result of the Government’s tightening of building regulations on energy efficiency in 2008.

Another way of explaining sustainabil­ity is that it will allow us to meet our present energy needs without compro­mising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We can do this by being more efficient in how we use energy in our daily lives and also by increasing the amount of en­ergy that comes from renewable sources such as the wind, the sun, rivers and oceans. Sustainability refers to a lot more than just keeping fuel requirements and C02 emissions down. It is a holistic term that encompasses much more than your build. Its scope covers everything from how building materials are procured and delivered, to the impact of the actual build process and how the building per­forms during its lifetime and ultimately to what happens when the building is no longer of use. In the past those looking to build sus­tainable homes, and even energy efficient homes, were looked upon with curiosity and even disdain as their ambition to build a low impact house was hindered by lack of knowl­edge and indeed a lack of interest across the country as a whole.

KEY ELEMENTS OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

There are a number of key considera­tions when building a house to ensure you maximize its sustainability in terms of energy efficiency. These include:

• Building form and orientation,

• Passive solar design,

• Renewable heating technologies

• Proper insulation and ventilation.


Feb 08

Seminar 8:

Domestic Energy Soiree 1 – ECO Architecture and Renewable Energy

18th February 2010

This evening seminar will address the concept of passive and eco-house design.  Paul McAlistair, an eco-architect, will review a number of his recent designs and will explore the benefit of an eco-build in relation to energy efficiency, livability and eventual marketability.

Bill Quigley of Nutech Renewables will explain the technical and practical aspects of incorporating renewable energy technologies into both new build and retro-fit projects and he will further elaborate on passive solar house design.

Venue: Southern Regional College, West Campus, Newry, Co Down.

Time: 6.30 – 9.30 p.m. (Light tea provided)

To register please contact the SRC Sustainability and Environment Project Team:

Carmel Mee or John Russell

Business Support Unit, Newry West Campus, Patrick Street, Newry
Tel   028 30834038     Email  meec@src.ac.uk or russellj@src.ac.uk
Web: Southern Regional College www.src.ac.uk Carbon Zero NI www.carbonzeroni.com
Jan 19

Paul Mcalister Architects will be exhibiting at this years Self Build Extend & Renovate Show with a showcase of our work.

Dec 18

Literature is now available on Ancon’s range of low thermal conductivity wall ties. These ties minimise heat loss through thermal bridging, improving the energy efficiency of a masonry cavity wall. The use of these ties can reduce insulation depth and wall footprint.

In addition to a number of stainless steel wire wall ties, the range includes the Ancon Teplo Tie which is manufactured from pultruded basalt fibres set in resin. This BBA-approved product is available exclusively from Ancon. It has a thermal conductivity of just 0.7W/mK, making it the most thermally efficient wall tie on the market. Ancon continues to lead the wall tie industry. The company now have a BBA-approved, low conductivity wall tie for cavities from 50mm to 300mm. For more information log onto www.ancon.co.uk/LowConductor.

Nov 20

Sustainability Concept House

The Concrete Centre, together with registered state landlord A2Dominion Group, has developed a concrete and masonry home that achieves level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The proposal provides a new approach for high performance, low cost social housing Since the introduction of the Code for Sustainable Homes in 2006, a number of demonstration projects and developments have shown how to meet tough performance standards, up to level 4 and higher. The challenge now is to translate those solutions for mainstream housing and the public sector. For social housing this challenge is particularly demanding since increased energy efficiency must not have an impact on the core design requirements of affordability, low maintenance, simplicity, use of systems with a proven track record or the provision of robust and durable construction.

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These concept designs take full account of this, and in addition meet current public social housing design standards such as Lifetime Homes, Building for Life and the augmented space standards. Furthermore, the designs not only take account of current legislation but also future foreseeable changes to the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) which is likely to take more account of thermal mass. A major consideration in meeting these requirements was the determination to use readily available and proven methods of concrete and masonry construction and design solutions that meant the home could be built in any location. The concept designs are for a five person, three-bedroom house of two storeys with a floor area of 85sq m. The plot was assumed to have a north/south orientation and low flood risk. For the ground floor, two types of beam and block system were considered, one using polystyrene blocks and the other concrete blocks. Both had a 90mm screed finish containing under floor heating pipes. To achieve a design U-value of 0.12W/m2K, the concrete block option requires around 200mm of insulation below the screed, whilst the polystyrene option only needs an additional 50mm of insulation, resulting in a much lower overall depth. However, this was not considered to be a particular design issue for the project. Other differences centred on cost and environmental rating, for which the polystyrene option scores an A+ in the BRE Green Guide. A concrete beam and block option scores a B, although the potential exists to upgrade this to an A rating by specifying screed with a high recycled content. With little to choose between the two options, concrete blocks were ultimately selected.

The design U-value of 0.15W/m2K for the external walls was achieved using a 200mm cavity fully filled with polystyrene beads and medium density aggregate block.gxdddfgh Had wall thickness and lower thermal conductivity been more of a driver, the greater insulating properties of aircrete blocks would have reduced the depth by some 10mm, or 15mm if using a thin-joint system. Concrete blocks, timber studs and steel studwork were all considered for the internal walls, but a combination of factors lead to the specification of block walls. These included a tougher finish, greater mass and good fire and floor resilience. It also enabled the preferred option of a wet plaster finish to be applied both externally and internally. The pitched roof provides optimum performance in terms of weathering, whole life costs, and the use of solar panels to achieve code level 5 targets. 450mm of mineral wool was determined to be the most economical way of achieving the required U-value of 0.12W/m2K. A traditional roof covering was a fundamental design requirement in order to meet the aspirations of the RSL for architectural designs that are acceptable to planning authorities on a national basis. Timber and UPVC windows were evaluated for thermal performance, maintenance requirements and durability. Despite lower levels of embodied CO2, timber was ruled out due to higher maintenance requirements — an issue of importance to the RSL. The decision to use UPVC windows was also influenced by their recent Green Guide environmental rating improvement from C to A to reflect the material’s good whole life performance and ability to be recycled at the end of life.

While thermal mass does not fall within the scope of the Code, making use of it was an important design requirement in order to reduce the risk of summertime overheating and so provide a degree of adaptation to our warming climate.

Depending on orientation, it also has the potential to improve energy efficiency during the heating season. Accordingly, the design optimizes the inherent thermal mass of the materials used helped by a wet plaster finish on the walls and a tiled floor where practicable.

The main RSL design requirements influencing the choice of heat source and renewable technologies centered on the following issues: ease of maintenance, cost, and use of a known technology, code score, and compatibility with other aspects of the design. These design requirements lead to the selection of a photovoltaic (PV) system and a class 5 gas condensing boiler, which reduce the case also including a solar hot water system. Instead, the entire renewable energy requirement is met by a 27sq m PV array. Having a single renewable technology reduces the overall complexity and maintenance requirements of the house. The concept designs from The Concrete Centre clearly demonstrate that existing trade skills can easily achieve code level 5.

Nov 10

Paul McAlister Architects have carried out landscape and visual impact assessment of approximately 10 on-shore Turbines many of which have been successful in achieving planning permission. All our projects are in conjunction with Silverford Renewables, and notably with their very impressive 11kw Gaia Wind Turbine, suitable for both Domestic and Commercial use. Having researched the market place extensively, PMC Architects can now recommend the services of Silverford Renewables, for practical advice on all aspects of Wind Power Generation in Northern Ireland & ROI.
For more information or advice on wind farms and turbines and their possible usage, contact:

Silverford Renewables
Silverford House
Bush, Dungannon.
BT716QG

Website : www.silverford.com Email : info@silverford.com

Tel : 0845 272 3502

Silverford_Logo

Oct 29
What an entrance!
This barn was renovated by Architect PaulMcAlister and every
detail has been sympathetically considered. The stone walls,
whilst traditional in appearance, help create a contemporary
environment when the glass and stainless steel staircase is

This barn was renovated by Architect Paul McAlister and every detail has been sympathetically considered. The stone walls,whilst traditional in appearance, help create a contemporary environment when the glass and stainless steel staircase is presented against it…. for more visit www.pmcarchitects.com

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